i've got you, brother
by Rosalie Barvik
Summary: Gansey finds Ronan in a bad place after Niall Lynch's death. pre-trc.
1. Chapter 1

When Gansey blinked awake his immediate thought was an extremely annoyed _What in the Name of Jesus is _that? Richard Campbell Gansey III had enough trouble getting to sleep as it was, and he was rightly disgruntled about getting rudely awakened in the middle of the night by some horrid sound. He rubbed his bloodshot eyes and groped for his glasses, shoving them crookedly onto his face. Then he rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the door.

"Noah?" He called hoarsely. But his roommate was nowhere to be seen. Gansey flicked on the lights and began searching for the source of the noise, which had abruptly stopped.

Monmouth Manufacturing was in desperate need of a deep cleaning, but Gansey had decided to hold off until they were completely finished with the renovations. He and his best friend Ronan had discovered the shabby building in the wake of its destruction. Gansey had been instantly drawn to it and had bought it before it could be torn down. He and Ronan had spent hours hauling loads of junk out of the second floor and making it into a proper living space for Gansey, who had not been satisfied with the dorms at their boarding school, Aglionby. He needed more space to lay out his plans and research on Glendower, the long-lost Welsh king who's search had lead Gansey to the small rural Virginian town of Henrietta.

That had all been the fall before. It was now the fourth week of June. Monmouth was nearly done, there were just a few finishing touches left for Gansey to make. He had moved in last spring, inviting his best friends Ronan, Adam, and Noah to live with him as well. Ronan and Adam both lived relatively close to Aglionby and Monmouth, so they had declined the invitation. Noah, however, was from New York, and was glad to accept.

Then, just two days before the present day, Ronan had moved into Monmouth. Gansey stopped. He suddenly knew what the sound had been. He quickly crossed over to Ronan's room. Gansey pushed the slightly ajar door open. The room was bare, expect for an unmade bed, an unpacked suitcase, and an empty bottle. _Oh, Ronan. _

The sound started again. Gansey realized it was coming from the bathroom. He hurried over to the closed door, briefly fumbling with the knob before turning it open. He turned on the lights to reveal the hunched form of Ronan Lynch. Ronan was kneeling on the floor, leaning over the toilet. Gansey sighed. He crouched down beside his friend, gathering his long, dark curls back while Ronan continued to retch into the toilet. After a few moments, Ronan gagged and spit bile, then slumped down against Gansey. His icy blue eyes slid up to meet Gansey's hazel ones. "'M sorry,'' he slurred and Gansey felt a piece of his heart break off.

"Hey, man,'' Gansey murmured, holding Ronan more tightly against him. "It's okay.''

"No, izz not,'' mumbled Ronan. "Izz never gonna be okaay 'gain.''

Drunk as he was, Gansey knew Ronan believed what he said. Ronan had just lost the person most important to him, the one whom he'd loved more than anyone else in the world. His role model. His hero. His father.

Gansey rested his cheek against Ronan's head. "Come on. Let's get you to bed.''


	2. Chapter 2

It was late afternoon when Gansey got the call. He had been sitting cross-legged on his bed at Monmouth, scrolling through the latest Welsh news articles on his phone. It was something he did periodically, ever hopeful something about Glendower might pop-up. He had yet to find anything useful searching this way, but he continued to look anyway.

He startled as his phone suddenly started vibrating. The number that appeared on the screen was an unknown Henrietta number, so Gansey just assumed someone made a mistake while dialing. He dismissed it and went back to his article. But only moments later, his phone started vibrating again. Gansey frowned. It was the same unknown number as before. Reluctantly, he answered it. "Hello?"

"Is this Dick Gansey?''

"Yes,'' responded Gansey cautiously. He felt like he recognized the voice, but couldn't quite put a name or face to it. Pretty much everyone in Henrietta either knew him or knew of him. Even so, Gansey was taken aback. He'd firmly installed upon arriving to the small town that he was to be called "Gansey". The "Richard Campell the third" part was off-limits. Or, as his family referred to him, Dick. So who knew him as Dick Gansey? Probably, he realized, someone from Aglionby.

When the person on the other side of the line didn't respond, Gansey politely spoke again, "I'm sorry, who is this?''

Gansey heard an audible sigh. The caller sounded completely drained. "It's . . . it's Declan. Declan Lynch.''

_Declan?_ Why the hell was Ronan's older brother calling Gansey? Declan and Ronan had a complicated relationship. Gansey had always thought it would be nice to have an older brother, but Declan and Ronan were constantly at each other's throats for various reasons. Declan tried to keep Ronan in line, Ronan had too much of a free spirit to be controlled by anything or anyone, and so they fought. This never-ending cycle kept them consistently pissed at each other. But Gansey had always been able to tell, even when Ronan hadn't, that Declan genuinely loved his brother and wanted only what was best for him. Gansey also knew that Ronan loved Declan too, although he made no effort to show it in any way. Even so, the brothers didn't spend much time together, and Gansey spent so much time with Ronan that he barely saw Declan. So why was he calling him now?

"Oh, hey Declan,'' Gansey said casually. "What's going on?''

Delcan hesitated again. "I need you to come to the Barns.'' He sounded agitated. "As soon as possible.''

"Is everything okay?'' Gansey was alarmed. The Barns was the Lynch family home. "Is Ronan okay?''

"No. No, he's not okay.''

Gansey was suddenly very afraid. "Why not? Declan, what happened?''

"Just . . . just get over here.'' Gansey heard indistinct voices over the line. "I have to got.'' Then Declan hung up.

Gansey almost called him back in desperate need for more information, but he calmed himself down enough to realize Declan probably wouldn't pick up anyway. Instead, Gansey grabbed his sandals and car keys and hurried to the door.

"Where are you going?'' Noah appeared in the doorway of his bedroom.

"Declan called,'' Gansey quickly explained. "I don't know what's going on, but something happened to Ronan. I'm going to the Barns. Adam get's off work at four, please try and get ahold of him as soon as you can.''

Noah nodded, his smudgy brow furrowing.

"Thanks,'' said Gansey breathlessly, and was gone.

The Barns was about half an hour outside Henrietta. Gansey had made the drive many times in his bright orange Camaro, usually with Ronan beside him in the passenger seat. _Ronan. Oh, God, Ronan. _Gansey hadn't felt such an acute sense of fear in a long time. Ronan was his best friend. He loved both Adam and Noah deeply and cared about them very much, but Ronan was different. Ronan had been _first. _Gansey had come to Henrietta alone and friendless. He'd never had any trouble making friends, and did so quickly, but Ronan was his first _real _friend. Staying up late finishing homework together or talking because neither of them were capable of sleeping properly. Fixing up Monmouth. Going to home-cooked dinners at the Barns. Ronan was the person that had made Henrietta Gansey's home. Now something had happened to Ronan, and Gansey had no idea what it was or if his friend was going to be okay. Gansey considered calling Declan back and demanding more information, but a part of him was reluctant to even know what had happened. Then there was the part of him that was desperate to know everything.

Gansey drove faster.

After what seemed like an eternity, Gansey was finally pulling up the Barns' long driveway. The first sign of trouble was the four police cars parked outside the Lynches house, lights silently flashing red and blue. There were several officers milling around with sullen expressions. They were standing around a dark stain on the pavement. Gansey's stomach twisted. Warm June sunlight streamed through the trees, creating insultingly beautiful patterns on the bloodstained ground.

Gansey allowed no time for his mind to wander. He did not allow his mind to jump to any conclusions. He parked his Camaro and leaped out, heart pounding. One of the cops called something out to him, but Ganset ignored whatever it was, and pushed open the front door. He staggered to halt in the Lynches' kitchen. Five heads looked up upon his entry. Gansey noticed Declan first. The oldest Lynch son was standing with his arm around Aurora Lynch, his mother. Gansey saw that Aurora was quietly crying. Declan nodded when he saw Gansey. There was an officer standing in front of the mother and son. It looked like he had been questioning them.

Then Gansey saw Ronan. His friend's icy blue eyes were staring up at him. Gansey almost started crying from relief until he saw what Ronan was doing. Ronan was slumped in a kitchen chair directly across from where another officer was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest. They had obviously been talking before Gansey had interrupted. Although this looked a lot more like an interrogation than a questioning.

"What are you doing here, Dick?'' Ronan's voice was hollow. He was still staring at Gansey with a shattered gaze.

"I — Declan called me.'' Gansey suddenly felt self-conscious. He usually had no problem with being in control of a whole room, but something about this felt . . . "Where's Matthew?''

"His room,'' Declan volunteered. "We told him to stay put for now.''

Ronan suddenly stood up.

The officer across from him did too. "We're not finished—''

"Oh stop it!'' said Aurora with as much venom as Gansey assumed she possibly could, which, to be fair, was not much. "He doesn't know anything!''

Gansey still had no idea what was going on. "What happened?'' He asked Ronan quietly.

Ronan blinked as if he had not understood the question. He dipped his head slightly. "Someone killed my dad.''

Gansey's heart skipped a beat. Niall Lynch was dead? "How?'' He managed.

"I don't know. I was in the barn and when I came out he was . . . he was lying there . . . on the driveway, and-'' Ronan struggled to finish.

Gansey crossed the room in few strides and pulled him into a fierce hug. He still wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation. _Niall Lynch dead? Ronan had found his body. _Just hours before Ronan had been with his father, the person he loved above everyone else, and now here he was, trembling in Gansey's arms. Gansey hugged him tighter, searching for something to say. But there was nothing. Gansey almost always knew what to say. This time, though, he came up completely empty. So Gansey just held him and said nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

As Gansey helped Ronan back in bed, gently tucking him in, he wondered how he would have reacted had he been in the same situation as Ronan. He knew he wouldn't have turned to alcohol, but other than that, he wasn't sure _what _he would have done. What was there to be done? Gansey decided it was better to just be grateful that his father was still alive, rather than dwell on if he wasn't. Gansey was nowhere near as close to Richard Gansey II as Ronan had been to Niall Lynch, but he still loved his father and the pain of losing him was unimaginable.

Gansey had done all he could for Ronan; all that was left was just being there. _Just keep being here, _Gansey told himself again and again. _Just keep being here. _Since the death of Niall Lynch, Ronan's life had quickly spiraled out of control. And Gansey knew how much he hated being out of control. Gansey still wasn't exactly sure how the three Lynch brothers had been banished from the Barns, or why Aurora had been declared an "unfit guardian". Declan and Matthew had moved into the dorms at Aglionby and Ronan had moved into Monmouth Manufacturing with Gansey and Noah.

"Gansey,'' Ronan murmured from under his blankets.

"Yeah? I'm here.'' Gansey inched closer.

"'M sorry,'' said Ronan for the second time that night. He turned his head away, but not in enough time for Gansey to miss catching sight of the single tear streaking down his face.

"It's okay,'' Gansey said softly, for the second time that night. "Everything's going to be okay. Maybe it doesn't seem that way now, but it will be eventually. I promise.'' He gripped Ronan's shoulder. As Ronan drifted off to sleep, Gansey whispered quietly, "I've got you, brother.''


End file.
